Stories by Marc Vitali

From “Swan Lake” to “Frankenstein” movies to the pop charts, the arts have always been deeply influenced by artists from the LGBTQ community. An about-to-be-released book shines a light on 50 pioneering artists from around the world who made indelible contributions to culture. 

Six candidates are vying for the Republican nomination for governor, to take on incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker. The campaign has been marked by a handful of billionaire supporters who have competing interests and are battling not only for the direction of the state, but of the Republican party itself.

Chicago police officers must only engage in foot pursuits under a certain set of circumstances and will be required to continuously re-evaluate the need to continue such a pursuit while it’s in progress, according to a final version of the new policy.

Within days of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control approving vaccine courses for children six-months through 4 years old, area hospitals, pediatricians and health care centers are beginning to put those doses in children’s arms.

More witnesses testified before a select committee of Congress about the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. The fourth day of hearings today focused on the efforts of President Donald Trump and his campaign to pressure state officials in key states to overturn the election results.

The proposal now heads to Wednesday’s meeting of the full Chicago City Council, where its prospects are uncertain at best.

The panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol resumed with a focus on Trump’s efforts to undo Joe Biden’s victory in the most local way — by leaning on officials in key battleground states to reject ballots outright or to submit alternative electors for the final tally in Congress.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s second appointment to the Chicago City Council advanced Monday on a unanimous vote of the City Council’s Rules Committee during a meeting that lasted less than five minutes.

The proposal was prompted by the deaths of three Rogers Park women, who died after temperatures in their apartments rose to dangerous levels during a mid-May heat wave. The revised measure, which is set for a final vote at the full City Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday. 

We all knew that Granddad, the Shedd Aquarium’s long-lived Australian lungfish, was an old-timer. Now, five years after he shuffled off to the big fish tank in the sky, Granddad’s true age has been revealed.

Former state Sen. Tom Cullerton will spend a year in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling funds from a labor union. The DuPage County Democrat was charged in 2019 with one count of conspiracy to embezzle from a labor union and employee benefit plans, 39 counts of embezzlement from a labor union and one count of making false statements. 

The West Rogers Park facility is increasing the size of its food pantry fourfold, doubling the size of its community space and creating a dedicated area for its Intensive Day Program that serves adults with mental health challenges.

Law enforcement authorities had enough officers on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, and they never checked a classroom door to see if it was locked, the Texas public safety chief testified.

Pay raises for the federal firefighters had been included in last year’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, but they had been held up as Biden administration officials studied recruitment and retention data to decide where to deliver them.

The cereal and plant-based meat companies will remain headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, where Kellogg was founded in 1906. The snack company will be headquartered in Chicago with a campus in Battle Creek, Michigan. 

Chicago police said there were 44 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday night. That included five people wounded in a mass shooting Friday night and an 18-year-old killed Monday afternoon.

Factors out of most people’s reach have caused everything from high gas prices to shortages of products like baby formula and tampons. But there is another shortage that we can do something about: it’s the supply of blood that hospitals and their patients depend on daily. 

The recent heat wave, coupled with lower than normal precipitation, has produced conditions ripe for what’s known as a “flash drought” in the Chicago area.

Our candidate forum series continue with the Democrats running for secretary of state. Plus, why the city’s pools are still closed. Addressing the blood shortage problem. And celebrating Juneteenth.

People who menstruate are scrambling to find tampons and sanitary pads as manufacturers say securing the cotton and plastic used to make the products is volatile.

Park District Superintendent Rosa Escareño joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss the ongoing shortage and acknowledged that some neighborhood pools may not be able to open at all if the Park District can’t fill some 300 lifeguard positions.

Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia and Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) are among four Democratic candidates vying to fill his seat. “Chicago Tonight” also invited candidate and former state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias who initially accepted an invitation and then later canceled. Also on the ballot is Sidney Moore.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to bless the creation of another City Council familial dynasty comes as she is running for re-election.

Dexter Trevell Shipp was charged Monday with one count of attempted first-degree murder stemming from the nonfatal shooting of a 23-year-old woman last week. He was ordered held without bail during a hearing Monday.

Officials granted double the number of COVID-19 vaccine exemptions to members of the Chicago Police Department than they did to members of any other city department, according to a WTTW News analysis of data provided by the mayor’s office.

Friends of the Parks is re-starting the conversation surrounding the gaps in Chicago’s lakefront park system and what those four miles could mean for shoreline protection, promoting biodiversity and delivering green space to areas where it’s in short supply.